Danny Chadburn says, “In early 2011 I put together a simple video for a friend’s band for a song they made referencing a certain (lonely) dictator. It was uploaded to YouTube and had been seen by a handful of people; however on December 17 that year the viewing figures suddenly skyrocketed. The despot in question had died, and I was the unexpected beneficiary of some web traffic. Something I had long forgotten about was suddenly being watched by thousands of people!”. How to breathe new life into old content ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Jami Oetting says, “Congrats! You’ve sold your client on the idea that a new website — one that provides a more user-friendly experience and increase sales and opportunities. Actually making this vision a reality is a whole other story, though. To make this happen, you need understand how your client’s future visitors will see and read the information and visuals you’ve worked so hard on. Will the visitor ignore that compelling call-to-action on the sidebar? Will your fancy navigation only confuse prospects? What information will people remember after they leave?”. Introduction... [...]

Lee Odden says, “Marketers are really jumping on the content bandwagon while the definition of what “content marketing” really means varies greatly between the SEO, PR, advertising and custom publishing industries. For example, I recently read a very clever post about content marketing on a popular SEO website providing an impressive array of content types, tactics, tips and shortcuts for content to be created and used as a marketing asset. But not once were “customer journey”, “buying cycle”, “customer insight” or related concepts mentioned”. The Power of Empathy for... [...]

John Bonini says, “I can remember the first time a blog post I published generated over five thousand views. Feels like it was only yesterday. I mean, the endorphin rush makes it pretty hard to forget. It was a post I wrote on Millennials – the cool thing to write about at the time – and people loved it. And while my initial reaction was to romanticize, it wasn’t until later that I self-evaluated and asked myself, “so what does five thousand views actually mean for this article?” Turns out, it meant very little. Sure it garnered a lot of attention which is always... [...]

Brian Clark says, “If you’ve been following Copyblogger for any length of time, you know we teach people online marketing. Specifically, something that is now known as content marketing. I’ve been a practitioner of “content marketing” since 1998. And we’ve been preaching it since 2006, years before that sexy terminology became the norm. Here’s the main thing you need to understand about online content that builds a business: It’s different from traditional marketing, but it accomplishes what marketing is supposed to do”. How to Fix the Problem With Content Marketing... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “It’s a common wisecrack around the Copyblogger virtual office. This whole content marketing thing would be a lot simpler if someone else would just write all the content. Whether you’re a writer or not, it’s just a fact that a solid content marketing strategy needs lots and lots of words. Well-crafted, interesting words, assembled into a strategic plan that moves prospects along the path from stranger to happy customer. It isn’t always easy to find the person to write those words. Which is probably why we get so many queries from people asking”. Announcing:... [...]

Megan Marrs says, “Marketers get by with a little help from their friends – well let us introduce you to 32 new content marketing friends to help make your job a little easier. Note: The aim was to only list free content marketing tools, but there are a few paid ones in the mix as well (freebies only get you so far). Unless marked as a paid tool, all content tools listed here have at least some kind of free offering. Content Curation Tools (finding great stuff to share) Content Creation Tools (create your own awesome stuff to share) Tools for Finding Content Creators (find folks to... [...]

Yael Grauer says, “So, you’re full of information and have a dramatic story for your audience? Good. But here’s the harsh truth: every bit of knowledge in the whole world is completely meaningless if you don’t do this one thing. Before I spill the secret, let me tell you what it’s not … It’s not about having the right intentions. Your intentions don’t even matter. Your burning desire to enlighten those around you thirsting for knowledge is useless unless you can clearly explain the information you’d like to share”. 7 Ways to Simplify Complex Content While Maintaining... [...]

This is a reminder for Business 2 Community’ webinar on Facebook marketing. Business 2 Community is hosting a webinar with Richard Beeson on Wednesday July 30 at 2.00 pm ET. The topic of the webinar is “How to Craft the Ideal Content Strategy for Your Facebook Page”. The ‘Business 2 Community’ team says, “There’s a time and place for everything. And on Facebook, it’s no different. In this class, leading digital marketing experts from the Facebook Marketing firm, Agorapulse, will explore the 6 types of content you should consider when creating your Facebook content... [...]

Arnie Kuenn says, “With the rise of business-blogging success in content marketing, it seems like every company has hopped on the bandwagon, which could be a great thing for audiences everywhere. Unfortunately, many companies are still missing the mark by using their blog as an extension of their product pages – just another place to talk about themselves. The key to driving content marketing success through blogging is by turning your blog into a learning center instead of using it as a depository for additional information about purchasing your products or services. Much of content... [...]